Finding 1186643 (2025-003)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-25
Audit: 394339
Organization: Sterling College (KS)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College failed to report student enrollment status changes accurately and on time, violating federal regulations.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2) and 34 CFR 685.309, which mandate timely and accurate enrollment reporting to the Department of Education.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Educate staff on reporting requirements and enhance internal controls to ensure accurate data is submitted, including regular comparisons with College records.

Finding Text

Enrollment Reporting Type of Finding - Material noncompliance with Enrollment Reporting compliance requirement and material weakness in internal control over compliance Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number: Federal Pell Grants 84.063, Federal Direct Loans 84.268 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria – 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2) and 34 CFR 685.309 provide regulations to institutions for the accurate and timely reporting of student enrollment information. Institutions must review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates to the Department of Education. The institution should have sufficient internal controls over program compliance to report information accurately and timely. Condition – Seven students were found to have a status change not reported within the 60-day requirement per enrollment reporting guidelines. One student was found to have a status that did not match the College’s records. Cause – During the year ended June 30, 2025, the College switched financial assistance software. After implementation, the College discovered that the new system was not accurately reporting the student’s status so when the information was submitted into the NSLDS Clearinghouse the status was not updated. The internal controls over the review of student status changes was not effective at preventing and/or detecting and correcting noncompliance with compliance requirements. Effect – The status changes were reported incorrectly and/or untimely to the Department of Education. Questioned Costs – Not applicable. Context – Out of a sample of 40 students with status changes, eight students were found to have status changes reported that were not compliant with the enrollment reporting requirements. Identification as a Repeat Finding - A similar finding was identified in the audit for the year ending June 30, 2024 as finding 2024-001. Recommendation – The individual responsible for submitting effective status change dates needs to be educated on the requirements and the internal controls should include a comparison of the College’s records to what is ultimately certified by the NSLDS in order to ensure accurate data is transmitted by the College’s system. Views of Responsible Official – Management concurs with the finding and is providing those responsible for compliance with appropriate education on the compliance requirements. The College is reviewing the processes and controls and will make changes as necessary to prevent and/or detect and correct noncompliance on a timely basis.

Corrective Action Plan

Contact person responsible for correction action – Michell Hall, CFO Anticipated completion date – June 30, 2025 Corrective action Sterling College agrees with the finding. The college realizes this is a repeat finding and we have struggled with compliance in this area due to the inadequacy of the system we were using and turnover in the financial aid office and the registrar’s office. With the new system, and the more seasoned personnel in each of the departments, we strive to make improvements in the enrollment reporting process. We are still actively running monthly processes to review enrollment reporting data to ensure the accuracy of our reporting. The new system will aid us in doing these processes better and continued training with personnel will be prioritized. We will continue to review policy and procedures and look for ways to make this process better.

Categories

Student Financial Aid Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1186641 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1186642 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1186644 2025-004
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $4.01M
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $1.64M
84.038 FEDERAL PERKINS LOAN PROGRAM_FEDERAL CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS $115,215
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $57,976
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $50,818
84.379 TEACHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR COLLEGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION GRANTS (TEACH GRANTS) $19,803